


The Winds of Change

by HopeFeather



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, F/M, Feels, Flesh Eater!Haze, Multi, Not Canon Compliant - Torna: The Golden Country, Polyamory, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-27 08:20:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18192092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeFeather/pseuds/HopeFeather
Summary: "The thought of even you forgetting me, i-it’s like one heart is being ripped in two.” Tears start to roll down Lora’s cheeks, illuminated by the ether particles that had started to drift off of Haze.“Lady Lora… Maybe-” Her voice catches in her throat with a little sob. “Maybe there is a way.”





	The Winds of Change

Spessia. They’d made it. Lora couldn’t help but grin as the four of them stood on the ledge overlooking the militia’s camp, reaching out to grasp her blades’ hands. “Looks like we made it. What do you say we grab a bite to eat before visiting them?” She glanced over at Jin, meeting his gaze as they share a smile.

“If you and Haze set up a campfire, Mikhail and I could search for ingredients?” He offers.

“Wonderful!” Haze chimes in from the other side, moving closer to hug Lora’s arm as she beams at the two of them. Mikhail peeks around her legs, nodding wordlessly.

“Sounds like a plan then. Alright, meet us back here in around half an hour and we can all cook dinner together.”

“Understood.” Jin nods, reluctantly slipping his hand out of Lora’s and making his way over to Mikhail. He places a hand on his shoulder encouragingly, and they head off into the nearby forest together.

“I think I see some good dry branches over in that direction, my Lady.” Haze points off to the left, Lora moving her gaze away from Jin’s retreating back to nod at her other blade.

“Lead the way.”

Haze can’t wipe the smile off of her face as her and Lora trek into the woods, hand in hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Behind her, Haze can hear Lora setting up the firepit, stacking the sticks they had found into a neat pile, and then scraping pieces of flint together to try and get it to light. The latter had been much easier when they had Brighid around, but…

No, let’s not think about that. The important thing is that Lady Lora’s alright, and Haze should ensure that continues to be the case by keeping watch.

The sun is just beginning to set in the distance, meaning monsters will be starting to prowl. But there’s… Something else. She can feel a ripple in the ether, and it’s fast approaching. Haze squints, taking a few uncertain steps forward as she tries to peer past the trees and into the distance.

She gasps, and her staff drops to the ground in her surprise.

“Haze? Are you alright?”

She barely hears Lora’s concerned call, turning and running to her. “L-lady Lora! We must go, quickly!”

“What?” Lora stands to meet her, placing her hands on Haze’s shoulders. “Calm down, Haze! What’s wrong? Is it ghosts?”

“No! Much worse, it’s-“ A blast of pure ether fires off, sailing over their heads, accompanied by the sound of trees crashing to the ground in its wake. Haze instinctively throws herself at Lora, surrounding them in a barrier.

“Indol…” Lora breathes in disbelief, staring down the path that the ether cannon had created only to see Indoline soldiers, titan weapons, and monsters just like what Gort had become. Haze is tugging at her arm and Lora relents, fear striking her heart as the two of them start sprinting in the opposite direction.

They hurry to warn Addam’s militia first, followed by hundred of soldiers as they all flee for the nearest port. Haze can only hope that Jin and Mikhail have been able to run too. The Indoline are gaining on them, those terrifying ether cannons screeching through the air, leaving pained screams behind. Haze can feel the dissipating ether as countless blades meet their ends, yet she keeps running, pulling Lora behind her as she tries desperately to find somewhere safe for the two of them to hide.

One sound pierces through it all: The agonized shout of her driver. Lora’s been hit, and her hand slides out of Haze’s as she falls to the ground.

“Lady Lora!”

“Guh… H-Haze!”

She runs back to her driver, managing to hoist her up and sling an arm around her shoulders, supporting her as they continue on at a slowed pace. She can see a ridge up ahead, where they can at least shelter from the fire. With hope, Indol might overlook them.

She can hear another cannon charging up behind them. “Hold on!” She shouts, picking up the pace. They can make it. Lora clings onto her with all her fading might as they jump over the ledge, narrowly avoiding the blast.

She hugs her driver close, glancing around desperately in search of- Bingo! A small cave entrance, just big enough for the two of them to fit in, but hopefully inconspicuous enough for it to be overlooked by their pursuers. Haze scrambles over, pulling herself and Lora inside.

It’s only when they seperate that Haze notices the blood that has smeared onto her robes, coming from a deep red patch of it in the middle of Lora’s shirt.

“O-o-oh…” She manages weakly, as she lays Lora on her back. Her driver coughs, looking up at her with pained eyes.

“Is it bad?” Haze nods shakily. “... Too bad?”

“I… I can try.” She holds her hands over Lora’s chest, closing her eyes and trying to keep her nerves in check as she lets the ether flow out in a cool, healing wind. There’s so much damage. More than she’s ever healed before - she’s surprised she didn’t drop dead on the spot. But her driver’s hardier than that. She… Lora can’t die here, surely?

Haze feels a soft hand cup her cheek, a thumb wiping away tears she hadn’t even realised had been rolling down her face.

“Haze… Look at me.” She opens her eyes, vision blurred by tears as her healing wind fades away. “It’s going to be alright. I… I’m going to die but, you’ll just go to sleep. Someday, you’ll be awakened by a new driver, and you’ll live on.” Lora manages a weak smile, as if that thought was at all comforting. “You’ll forget all about me…”

“I don’t want to forget you, Lady Lora! Please, don’t say that. I… I’ll help you a-and it will be okay! You’ll live. We both will. And we can keep making memories together, okay?”

“Haze… We both know you can’t heal this.” Lora gestures to the still spreading patch of blood on her clothes. “I don’t want you to forget me, of course I don’t. Blades can come back, but… Humans only have the memory of themselves they pass on. With so many people I knew already gone… It’ll be like I never existed. The thought of even you forgetting me, i-it’s like one heart is being ripped in two.” Tears start to roll down Lora’s cheeks, illuminated by the ether particles that had started to drift off of Haze.

“Lady Lora… Maybe-” Her voice catches in her throat with a little sob. “Maybe there is a way.”

“Huh?”

“A way for me to live on, without forgetting you. I heard about it once, but… It’s rather gruesome.”

“Anything, Haze. I’d do anything.”

And so she tells her all she’d heard of flesh eaters, how she’d need to rip out Lora’s heart and transplant it to her own chest. How she can live on with her memories.

Lora nods wordlessly.

Haze raises her hand up high, making an almost claw with her fingers, and trembling as she hesitates.

“Haze.” Her driver holds her face yet again, both hands cupping her cheeks as golden eyes stare up at her. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Lora. For eternity.”

She plunges her hand into Lora’s chest, and everything goes dark.

**Author's Note:**

> I finished Torna and had a lot of feelings, mainly sad ones. Haze deserved better! But this probably isn't it. Either way, hope you enjoyed. This might be what I'm writing instead of Incandescent for a while because my mind is hooked on Torna at the moment.


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